The Heart Remembers
by CaptainMalcolmReynolds
Summary: POST OBLIVIO! Marinette is having dreams of Chat Noir without his mask. Are they just that, dreams? Or does her subconscious know her partner's identity? Rated T just in case of where this might end up.
1. Chapter 1

**THIS IS POST OBLIVIO. THERE ARE SPOILERS. Just saying. **

**OK… So this is the first time that I've started posting before I had the whole story finished. And polished. And typed up. SO… we'll see how it goes. I do have this mapped out in my head, so hopefully none of the characters go majorly off script (I'm looking at you Plagg!)**

**I don't own anything related to Miraculous: The Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir. OK. That's a big fat lie. I own the Funko Pops, as well as plushies of Plagg and Tikki. What I don't own is any of the rights to the characters. Or the show. Or to, well, anything, really. **

One week after the fight with Oblivio, and Marinette was different. Not in any major way, but in a million little ones. Yes, she had kissed Chat Noir (AGAIN!) and she couldn't remember why, but she knew she'd done if for the pleasure of it this time, rather than to rescue her partner. It was possible that it was kissing him that had shifted things inside her, but Marinette was fairly certain that it was the events leading up to that kiss, everything that she couldn't remember, that had changed her. Oh, she'd tried everything she could think of to jog her memory, checking her phone for pictures (nothing new), calls made or received (her log was a complete blank), even returning to the Montparnasse tower to see if anything was familiar, but even the note she'd left herself on the elevator wall was no longer visible.

The most noticeable change, the one that made Alya's jaw drop, was the way she could now speak with Adrien. It wasn't any different that the way she spoke with everyone else; she didn't stutter, fumble for words, or blush when she made eye contact. Her stomach was full of butterflies, as usual, but she didn't feel the paralyzing fear of making a fool of herself in front of him. He was just Adrien, and she trusted his acceptance of her.

And then, there were the dreams. In her mind, she'd be out running the rooftops of Paris with her partner, but soon, her mask would drop, and she would no longer be Ladybug, merely Marinette. Chat Noir's mask would drop away, too, leaving Adrien Agreste running beside her. The more times she had this dream, which had been coming nightly, the more similarities she saw between her kitty and her crush during her waking hours. The physical ones were obvious, now that she took the time to look: both were green eyed blondes, close in height and build, similar age, and had the same feather allergy. The similarities she saw that rattled her the most were the personality traits. On the surface, one would have said that they were opposites, but the innate kindness, courage and generosity was there in both boys, as was the sadness that lingered in their eyes at unguarded moments, even as they presented smiles to the world. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed right that they were the same person.

Unfortunately, Tikki didn't remember anything from their battle with Oblivio either, and although she did know Chat Noir's true identity, Tikki wouldn't say anything else to Marinette, other than to trust her instincts. Resolving to talk to Chat about it at her next opportunity, she tried to concentrate on her homework.

Hawkmoth obliged her the next day at school. After a restless night, filled with more dreams of Adrien as Chat Noir, Marinette had arrived (surprisingly) 10 minutes before the start of school, and had managed a heated debate with Adrien and Max about what to expect from the upcoming Ultimate Mecha Strike 4. Miss Bustier had just started talking about the new French Romantic Poets, when crashes followed by screaming erupted from the street outside the school. Immediately, Marinette's hand shot up, asking to use the bathroom. As she reached the doorway, she heard Adrien's voice behind her, also asking to be excused. She pushed that thought to the back of her mind, to be examined later, right now, she needed to focus on the upcoming battle. She rushed to the bathroom, hoping it was empty, and her good luck held. Transforming into Ladybug, she launched herself out of the window, and swung onto the rooftop, only moments after Chat Noir, where together, they surveyed the scene below.

The Akumatized victim was a gardener of some sort, clad in overalls of fluorescent green, and dark green shirt, a gardener's half apron and wellies. Around him, roots and sprouts were pushing their way out of the ground and out of buildings, tangling people in their web of vines, rendering them immobile.

In the sheltered alcove created by the stairs up to the school's entrance, Ladybug noticed Alya, filming the scene for the Ladyblog, Nino hovering behind, ready to pull her to safety should things get really ugly. Turning her attention back to the Akuma, she asked her partner, "What do you thing? Spade or apron?"

"Definitely spade." Chat replied. "The seed bombs come from the apron pocket, but he is using the spade to direct where the vines grow."

A few seconds of observation confirmed Chat's analysis for her. Spinning her yo-yo to fend off any vines that crept her way, Ladybug leaped from the roof and stepped into the street in front of the Akuma. Chat Noir landed to her right, twirling his baton in a similarly defensive maneuver. "I don't know what someone did to _vind_ you up", he called out, "but I know we can get to the _root_ of your problem!"

The akuma pointed his shovel at them and roared, "I am Plantagenet. I am tired of the city taking away all the green spaces and covering over gardens. I am here to take back the city for the plants." With this declaration, he lobbed a seed ball at Chat Noir, which bounced off his baton shield, but exploded into vines with the impact, scattering them across the ground. Snaking out and around his defenses, following the guidance of the spade, one of the vines reached out to wrap itself around Chat's ankle. Slipping out of its hold before it was able to tighten its grip, Chat Noir flipped himself out of range with a series on handsprings and a shout of "_Leaf_ me alone you nasty vines!"

Leaping to higher ground, Ladybug called upon her lucky charm, and glanced around for something to use with the large foam block she was given. Her eyes lit upon the block, Chat Noir, and Plantagenet's spade. A plan formed itself in her mind, and she called "Ready?" to her partner. At his nod, she ran full speed at the Akuma, dodging roots and sprouts that reached out towards her, the seed missiles mostly being aimed towards her partner, who was doing his best to create a distraction. She wrapped her yo-yo around Plantagenet's spade arm, and yanking it down, lodged the blade into the foam block. Chat Noir's cry of "Cataclysm" rang out, and he brought the simmering darkness that had gathered in his hand down onto the handle of the spade. "I don't understand where all this anger _stems_ from", he quipped, as a deep purple butterfly fluttered up and out of the shattered remnants of the spade.

Ladybug rolled her eyes as she readied her yo-yo to purify the Akuma. "No more evildoing for you little Akuma. Time to de-evilize! Gotcha! " A pause as the butterfly was released. "Bye bye little butterfly!" Tossing the foam block up into the air, and calling the words 'Miraculous Ladybug' to return the city back to its normal, vineless state, Ladybug watched the scarlet insects fly around, healing the damage done to the city, and she centered herself for the question that she had to ask Chat. The partners grinned at each other, bumped fists, and, after escorting the victim over to the first responders for treatment, they turned to take their leave of each other. Ladybug hesitated, then put her hand on Chat Noir's forearm, stopping him from bounding away. "Kitty? Can I talk to you?" His ring beeped, showing 2 pads gone, so she quickly continued, "Not right now. Meet me tonight? 9pm? On top of the Musee d'Orsay?"

She looked unsure, almost nervous, and Chat found himself agreeing and starting to worry about her, even before he'd finished processing her words. "Is everything OK, M'Lady? Am I starting to _grow_ on you?"

"I'm fine." She sighed and shook her head. "We'd better get going. Thank you for meeting with me tonight."

He smiled in response as she spun out her yo-yo string and sped away. "For you, always."


	2. Chapter 2

**No rights to this fabulous show have been bestowed upon me. Neither Thomas Astruc not Jeremy Zag lost their memory during Oblivio, and allowed me to convince them that I needed a belated birthday gift. **

Adrien couldn't focus during his afternoon classes. He made it back to school at lunchtime, and sat with Alya, Nino and Marinette. _Marinette_. He couldn't get her out of his head. Every night since the akuma named Oblivio had erased his memory, he'd been having these dreams about her. They would be sitting in class, as usual, listening to Ms. Mendeleev talking about exothermic reactions, and all of a sudden, his everyday clothes would be gone, replaced by black leather, his Chat Noir mask firmly in place. His cat ears would hear Marinette whisper something to Alya, but when he turned to look at her, Ladybug would be sitting there in Marinette's place.

The strange thing was, that the more Adrien thought about his dream, the more similarities he saw during waking hours between his love and his good friend. Both were amazingly kind and generous, neither hesitated to defend a friend (or stranger, for that matter), or to help anyone in need. He'd even referred to Marinette their Everyday Ladybug, for her thoughtfulness. Once his mind had honed in them, the physical similarities were undeniable. Both were short and slender, with dancing blue eyes, and hair so black it shone blue, which they wore pulled back into twin pigtails. He didn't know Ladybug's true age, but Alya had hypothesized on the Ladyblog that they were in the same year at school.

And now, Ladybug wanted to meet with him. He was sure that it had something to do with the kiss that they'd shared; the one that he couldn't remember. As she'd swung off that day, she'd told him that their conversation wasn't over, after he'd annoyed her by calling them a couple one too many times. He wondered if she remembered what had happened, or found some clue that could unlock their memories. What if she'd been having dreams, too, and if so, what did it mean? Or could this discussion be about something else. Maybe the boy that she claimed to love told her that he loved her back. NO. He wouldn't think about that.

Adrien had spent the past week looking for clues. While he'd been unable to make it back to the Montparnasse tower, he had checked out his phone (no new pictures, voice recording, and a completely blank call log). He'd spent his free time scouring the internet for any news or amateur footage of the fight with the akuma, or for comments from anyone, either on the Ladyblog or other sites about what might have happened that day. There were lots of theories. Some were completely outrageous: Hawkmoth had turned up in person, once their memories were erased, to try to recruit Chat Noir and Ladybug, then gave them a love potion to distract them when they refused. Others were plausible, but untrue: Ladybug and Chat Noir were in love and secretly dating, they just forgot that they couldn't tell the world. Unfortunately, he was no closer to learning what had truly happened, or to figuring out how to make Ladybug fall back in love with him.

Adrien turned for what must have been the tenth time that class period to check and see if Marinette had magically turned into Ladybug in class (she hadn't). Marinette was paying him no attention, her hand furiously flying over her notebook, pausing occasionally to stare hazily at the board, then dropping her head back down to her notebook, appearing to the outside observer to be a model student.

Nino, however, had noticed his distraction. "Dude!" He whispered. "What is going on with you and Marinette? Are you that interested in her design?"

"Design?" Adrien looked at his friend, confused.

"Yeah. That look on her face. The one of complete concentration on something only she can see? That's her 'inspiration has struck' face." Nino snickered. "So if it wasn't her design, why were you looking?"

Adrien blushed, but was saved by the bell, and the teacher reminding them that their topics and outlines for the upcoming project were due that Friday. As they packed up, Nino gave him a look that said their conversation was not over, but he would drop it for now.

Nino and Adrien followed Alya and Marinette out of school, Adrien staring at Marinette trying to picture her in red and black spots, instead of her normal pink, but being distracted by the red ribbons she had tied around her pigtails. Just like Ladybug, he thought.

His Chinese lesson that afternoon was a disaster, he wished it had been fencing, at least then he would have been able to get out his nervous energy, instead, he had to keep asking his Chinese instructor to repeat himself, as his mind would wander to the meeting that evening. He was able to keep his nervous movements to a minimum, tapping his fingers or pencil in rhythm to the latest piano piece he was working on, but he really just wanted to climb his rock wall, or throw himself down his skateboard ramp.

Finally, dinner came, and he picked at his food, alone as usual, then headed back upstairs to do his homework. Adrien paced his room, unable to focus on anything while he waited for his rendevous with Ladybug. The closer it got to 9pm, the slower time went. At 8:15, he couldn't wait any longer, tossed Plagg some cheese. The instant it disappeared, Adrien called for his transformation into Chat Noir, and threw himself into the Paris night.

As he approached the Musee, he realized that Ladybug must also have had trouble waiting, because he saw a figure pacing back and forth, gesticulating wildly, then slump in frustration, only to jump back up and repeat the process. Chat Noir wanted to laugh at her antics, but, at the same time knew that if Ladybug was nervous about what she wanted to say, then it had to be something serious. He continued to watch her for a few more minutes, not sure whether to interrupt her musings. After a particularly rough-looking landing when she threw herself down, Chat slipped out of the shadow he'd been hiding in, and nimbly crossed the rooftop to join her.

She didn't startle as he landed on the roof, instead smiled up at him from her seated position, and after a moment's hesitation, patted the spot next to her in invitation. Chat Noir took up his partner's offer, and gracefully dropped next to her, drawing one leg up and resting his chin on his knee. Together, they gazed out at the city, side by side in a comfortable silence. Knowing she was gathering her thoughts, Chat let the silence spin out around them for several long minutes, until Ladybug, eyes still focused on the horizon, started to speak. "Do you remember anything?"

He knew that she was referring to their time that Oblivio had taken from their memories, so he just shook his head. "No. Do you?" He held his breath, waiting for the answer.

"I don't think so, but that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. I've been going over everything trying to figure out what happened. We'd both used our powers, so we must have been detransformed. I know I used my cell phone, both my mother and Master Fu confirmed as much, but there is no record of me having made any calls. 'Miraculous Ladybug' must have taken care of that, too. "

Chat nodded. "My call history was completely blank. I don't know what happened, but I don't think I called anyone. I guess Hawkmoth must have slipped us that love potion after all."

Ladybug burst out laughing. "You saw that theory, too? Well, it's nice to know that even with no memories, we aren't going to hand over our Miraculous or join with Hawkmoth!"

They laughed together for a few minutes more, swapping some of the more outrageous theories they had come across, before lapsing into a companionable stillness.

Once again, Ladybug was the one to break the silence. Turning to face him, she said, "The other thing we need to talk about is that kiss. It shouldn't have happened. It definitely shouldn't have happened in front of Alya and her camera. Chat, I care about you very much, but even if there was not somebody else, Chat Noir and Ladybug could never be a couple. Hawkmoth could use one of us to get to the other. It's bad enough as partners and as friends, if it were more, if WE were more, Hawkmoth wouldn't hesitate to exploit our feelings to trap or trick the other. Remember Volpina on Hero's day? She created the illusion that I was akumatized and killed you. Hawkmoth wouldn't hesitate to use an illusion, or ourselves to lure the other in. We have to remain professional, for safety. Although that picture may have already planted seeds in his mind. If we can show that it was the work of an akuma, and not how we truly feel, maybe we will be able to stay safe. Kitty, I don't want anything to happen to you."

Chat's ears drooped as she shared her thoughts with him. Tonelessly, he said "None of that really matters, anyway. You've told me you're in love with another boy, and I respect that."

Ladybug blushed pink, but remained quiet.

Chat turned to look at her. "Bugaboo?"

Ladybug took a deep breath, turning her face away from him, to look out over the skyline. Chat dropped his eyes to his hands, where they were clasped around his knee.

"One of the more interesting theories I read online was that the boy I am in love with is actually you outside of your mask. When I first read that, I laughed it off, because you are nothing alike. Then I realized that you are alike. The dreams showed me how similar you really are."

"Dreams?" Chat sat up straight, turning towards a fiercely blushing Ladybug. "Like ones where you are sitting in class, then all of a sudden, you're in the mask, and you realize that Ladybug is in your class, is in fact one of your friends?"

Ladybug's eyes went wide. "Almost. I start out as Ladybug, out saving Paris with you, then, all of a sudden, I turn into my normal self. And you turn into, well, HIM. Is that even possible? Do you think some part of us remembers?"

Chat smiled. "It's like you said. The classmate I see turn into you… the more I think about it, the more alike the two of you are. She is our Everyday Ladybug."

He felt Ladybug stiffen at the last two words. "What's wrong? I didn't mean it as any offense to you. It was a compliment to the strength and kindness of a very good friend."

At that, Ladybug chuckled softly to herself, all doubt about Chat's identity erased, and she dropped her head into her hands. Without looking up, and before she could talk herself out of it, she said, "One guess. If I'm right, you tell me. If I'm wrong, we never speak of this again."

Chat looked startled for a moment, then a grin split his face as he nodded enthusiastically. "Does this mean I find out the name of the boy you are in love with?"

Ladybug blushed again and closed her eyes for a moment. She nodded, then she opened her eyes, caught his gaze and said, "Adrien. You are Adrien Agreste."

Chat's heart was hammering so loudly in his chest that he almost missed the softly spoken words, but he caught his name, and his smile grew even brighter. Taking her hand in his, he bowed his head over it. "At your service, Milady." He kissed the back of her hand, as he'd done hundreds of times before. Straightening up, he leaned closer to her, breathing a name into her ear, "Marinette Dupain-Cheng."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you everyone! I was blown away by your response to the last chapter! You guys made my week! The only down side to my week was that I still don't have rights to Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir.**

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng". Chat had only whispered it, but the words echoed around Ladybug's head. She pulled back so that she could meet his eyes. "Surprise?"

Ladybug looked at her partner for a few more moments before looking out across the city. Her hands were starting to tremble, and she realized that it was only a matter of time before she really started freaking out. She knew who Chat Noir was… and he was Adrien Agreste. Not only that, Chat knew who she was, and he seemed to be OK with it. Turning to her partner, she said, "I need to go home and think about all this; what this means, and what we should do. About the picture, about Hawkmoth, all of it. Do you want to come to the bakery for lunch tomorrow? We can talk then."

Chat Noir was still reeling from the fact that his dreams had actually been true, that Ladybug was really the girl who sat behind him in class. _Marinette_. A bit belatedly, he realized that she'd been speaking to him, and he nodded. "Lunch. Yes. We can talk tomorrow."

Ladybug stood to leave. "Good. I'll see you at school in the morning. And for what it's worth, Kitty, I am really glad it's you." With that, she swung off towards the bakery, leaving a dazed Chat Noir staring after her. As she disappeared from sight, he suddenly sat bolt upright. "Does that mean that Marinette has a crush on me?" He wondered out loud.

After eventually shaking himself out of his stupor and heading back to the mansion, Chat Noir dropped his transformation, then started pacing while talking aloud, mostly to Plagg, who was only half listening. For his part, Adrien was having a tough time accepting things. Not that Marinette was Ladybug; that much was obvious to him now. Not even that he had fallen for her when they'd lost their memories; he'd fallen for Ladybug almost the instant they met. No, what Adrien didn't believe was that _Marinette_ was in love with _him_. He may have lived a sheltered life, but he knew how people acted when they loved him, and Marinette most certainly did not act that way.

His mother Emilie had loved him. She had always scheduled time with him, between her movies and modeling. Whenever she was home, she took him to the zoo, or the park; the museum or the playground. She told him how to be a perfect little gentleman. Her love came with a timetable, a schedule, but it was genuine, and in her presence, he was always happy and loved.

His father, too, loved him. He told him what to do and how to act. He prepared him for his future. His love was less hands-on than his wife's had been, even when Adrien was younger, but Gabriel did love his son. He sheltered and protected, commanded and scheduled. Until Adrien had lost his mother, his father's presence had been happy. Now he hid his love behind demands and rules, but it shone through on occasion. He tried to make both life, and his son, perfect.

He loved and was loved by his childhood friend, Chloe. She had always been bossy and demanding, deciding what games they would play, telling him what to do, who he should pretend to be when they played dress up. As children, they had a genuine bond and friendship, but as they'd got older, she'd tried to turn it romantic, but although he wasn't interested, he knew that Chloe loved him.

As irritating as it was to have to deal with them on occasion, his fans loved him. They chased him around the city, took pictures of him, demanded autographs, mementos, time. They were bossy, but loyal, and required him to take his bodyguard everywhere, but they, too, loved him.

Marinette, despite what she claimed, did not love him. Sure, they were friends, good friends, and they did care about each other, but she never told him what to do, or what to think. She asked about his feelings, valued his opinion, put his wants ahead of her own. He'd asked her for dating advice, and she'd helped him. That's what friends did, she was mistaken if she felt more for him than just as a friend.

She had said that Ladybug didn't, no _couldn't,_ love Chat Noir, but Adrien had fallen in love with her when he first met her. How could he not? She was adorable! She'd been nervous and unsure, but she'd stepped up, started issuing instructions, and took control of both the situation, and him. She had been doing it at practically every encounter since, and he had fallen a little bit more in love every time.

Adrien explained all this to Plagg, concluding, "I know that Marinette can take charge. She's an amazing class representative. She stands up for those who can't stand up for themselves, she is kind and caring to everyone. I'm just not special like that to her, he doesn't treat me that way."

Plagg just shook his head. "This is why I love cheese. It's easier. Seriously, kid. I don't know where to start. Tell everything you just told me to Marinette, and then spend time with her and those she loves. Besides, they have cheesy bread and I can spend time with Tikki."

Back in her bedroom, Marinette was quietly losing it. "Tikki! Chat! Adrien! Gah! What am I going to do? The whole time I've been wanting Adrien to fall in love with me, I've been telling him that I don't love him!"

Tikki smiled at her chosen. "Don't worry Marinette. Adrien has been doing the same thing to his 'very good friend'. I'm sure if the two of you sit down and talk about it, you will find everything will work out just fine in the end."

"But Tikki, I just gave him a whole lecture on why we couldn't date!" Marinette wailed.

"No, Marinette. You told him why Ladybug and Chat Noir couldn't date, and everything you said holds true. However, there is no reason why Adrien and Marinette cannot date, as long as they stay completely disconnected from Ladybug and Chat Noir. I would suggest that tomorrow, after you and Adrien have talked, that you go and visit Master Fu, and let him know that you are aware of each other's identities."

After listening to her kwami's sound reasoning, Marinette was able to breathe a bit more calmly. She collected herself enough to finish her homework. It wasn't her best effort, but it was done, and she was ready for school where she would have to face Adrien. She could do this.

In school the next day, Marinette and Adrien trod carefully around each other, both a little nervous, but looking forward to spending time together during lunch. The bell rang, and Alya turned to Marinette. "You coming, girl?"

"I, uh, am going home for lunch." Marinette stammered.

"Awesome! I'll join you! I love your parent's goodies! And your parents too, of course!" Enthused Alya.

Marinette looked bashful. "Actually, I was taking Adrien. I kinda need to talk to him about something."

Alya's face lit up. "Say no more! Have fun kids." She shot a look at Marinette. "I'll need all the deets later."

Marinette nodded in agreement, already trying to come up with a plausible explanation for Alya. Smiling up at Adrien, the two walked side by side, close, but carefully not touching, back to the Tom and Sabine Boulangerie-Patisserie.

While busy with the lunch rush and unable to step away from the counter, Marinette's parents greeted the teens cheerfully. Sabine told Adrien that Marinette had said he was coming for lunch, and to let her know if the bread, cheese and beef stew she'd set out for lunch was not to his liking, and she would find him something else.

"Oh no, thank you Mrs. Cheng." said Adrien. "It sounds absolutely delicious."

"Sabine. Please call me Sabine." Marinette's mom said smiling. "You two run upstairs and have your lunch. It'll be time to head back to school before you know it!"

"Thanks, Maman!" called Marinette as she led Adrien up the stairs. The two stopped to grab steaming bowls of stew and tear off a hunk of bread each. Adrien snagged some cheese for himself as well as Plagg, and Marinette balanced a plate of cookies that she knew both her kwami and her partner would enjoy, as well as herself.

They settled themselves on the floor of Marinette's room eating and chatting, getting comfortable in their new-found knowledge of each other, trying to balance the friend with the partner, and building the foundations of a deeper friendship than they had previously experienced with or without the masts, as they truly saw the whole person before them for the first time.

Time ran short on them as they laughed about things that should have given them away but didn't, terrible excuses that now made perfect sense, and how frustrating it had been for both of them when Marinette had desperately wanted to share the secret of Master Fu with him but couldn't. That lead Adrien to gasp with realization, "That means you know everyone's secret identity! You chose Rena Rough and Carapace, and everyone knows that Queen Bee is Chloe."

Marinette grinned wickedly at him. "You know what else I know?" Adrien leaned in at her conspiratorial tone. "I know if we don't leave now, were going to be late back to school!"

Adrien groaned and looked at the clock. Snatching up their lunch things, they deposited them in the kitchen sink. "It's my night to do dishes, they'll keep." Said Marinette to her mother as the teens gathered up their backpacks and rushed down the apartment stairs.

Slightly out of breath, the pair rushed through the classroom door and dropped into their seats laughing just as the bell rang. This drew raised eyebrows from several of their classmates, a thumbs up from Alya, and a questioning "Dude?" from Nino. Adrien just shook his head and whispered "Later" while Marinette grinned at Alya.

Afternoon classes flew by, and as they were gathering their stuff at the end of the day (and before Alya could drag her off and pump her for information), Marinette lightly touched Adrien's forearm. "We never did finish last night's conversation. Do you want to come over for dinner some night this week, and we'll have more time to talk afterwards?"

Adrien looked down at her and smiled. "Sure! I'll text you tonight what works best with my schedule."

With a "Bye!" and a wave, Adrien left the room with Nino while Alya practically pounced on her best friend. "Spill. NOW!"

Marinette laughed, "Want to come over? We will do homework, and I'll tell you everything."

Once they were settled in Marinette's room, Math books spread out, but ignored, in front of them, Marinette turned to her best friend and started her story, filling it with as much truth as she could. "Well, this is actually sort of your doing: you and Nino. I didn't want to say anything, but it is because of Oblivio." Alya winced slightly at the name, but waved at Marinette to continue. "Well, while you were, uh, busy, we, uh, Adrien and I, didn't know where you were, and if you were safe, or getting way too close trying to get footage or something. So we went looking for you, and ended up getting trapped together. While Ladybug and Chat Noir were saving the day, we were talking, and actually getting to know each other. It was then that I realized he is still amazing, and I love him, but he is also just a person, and an enormous dork. Which is adorable!"

Alya squealed and hugged her best friend. "This is HUGE! I am so proud of you, girl! I knew you could talk to him! So, did you ask him out yet?"

Marinette blushed and giggled. "I'm not that comfortable with him yet. It's been nice just getting to spend time with him and not babble like a dorkasaurus in front of him. He knows I'm in love with him. I told him as much. Now it's up to him, if he wants to do anything about it."

"You told him WHAT?" Alya screeched, her tone a mixture of incredulous and proud. "That you're in love with him? And you used actual words? Ones he understood?"

"Yes, Alya. Real words." Marinette sighed as her blush deepened. "We were talking about crushes, and I told him that I was in love with someone, and his name was Adrien Agreste."

"Girl, really? What did he say?"

"Um, not much really. I think he was a bit stunned, and then I had to go. That's why I asked him to dinner, so that we could talk about it."

The girls chatted some more, and eventually worked on their homework, Alya heading home shortly before dinnertime. As Marinette was getting ready for bed that evening, her phone buzzed. Glancing at her phone, she saw that it was an incoming text from Adrien, checking in about dinner. "I'm not free until Friday. Can I come by after fencing?"

She responded with a "Sounds great. Goodnight Kitty. See you tomorrow!"

After popping down and informing her parents that Adrien would be there for dinner Friday, Marinette climbed into bed, and swiftly fell asleep with a smile on her face.


	4. Chapter 4

**I still don't own this show. This was made even more apparent to me as I watched Silencer in French (a language I don't speak) while waiting for the English version to come out. And yes, I know that ice in drinks is a US thing, not a French thing, but it makes my plot work, so whatever.**

The week passed quickly. Marinette and Adrien no longer danced around each other, but acted like the old friends that they secretly were. Marinette treated Adrien with the same kindness that she showed everyone, but was much more likely to touch his arm, or pat him on the head absentmindedly; the physical signs of affection she had always shown to Chat Noir.

Adrien, for his part, had a hard time keeping his Chat in check around the "new" Marinette. When the two of them were alone, he let the more carefree side of his nature fully shine through, but even in class, the occasional pun would slip out.

Several of their classmates, primarily the girls who knew of Marinette's crush, approached her to offer congratulations, or to ask about the status of their relationship. All were offered a smile, and a version of the 'trapped together by Oblivio' story. Since the story was, after all, the truth, whether they remembered it or not, it was readily believed by everyone, and corroborated by the fact that nobody had seen either Marinette or Adrien during the Akuma battle.

Alya beamed with pride every time time she saw Marinette talk to him without stuttering or blushing, and was constantly finding reasons to pull Nino off on their own, so their friends could have time alone together, whether it was a few minutes at the end of lunch, or completely disappearing after school. The whole class was amused the time that Adrien cracked a good natured joke at Marinette's expense, then winked at her, pulling her pigtail. Instead of turning into the stuttering mess they expected, the look that crossed her face spoke of retribution. Her chance came, halfway through class, when Mme. Bustier was turned away from them. Adrien had been leaning back in his seat, the collar of his shirt gaped away from his neck ever so slightly, but that was all the opening that Marinette and her deadly aim needed. The only warning he received was the rattle of ice in Marinette's cup before he felt something cold and wet slip down his back, inside his shirt. The surprised squeal he made alerted the teacher that all was not right, but Adrien pasted on a smile, and the rest of the class looked innocently back at their teacher, so he sat through the remainder of class, feeling the melting ice run in rivulets all the way down his back to the bench below him.

Friday rolled around, and school let out. Marinette headed back to her house, and Adrien headed to fencing practice, with a promise that he would be over immediately afterwards. Marinette was downstairs in the bakery helping her parents out when Adrien walked in, freshly showered and ready to hang out. Marinette greeted him with a quick hug, inadvertently transferring some flour from her arm onto his black shirt. He laughed and wiped it off. Marinette apologized anyway, "I'm sorry! I was just baking some cookies for us! You like chocolate chip, right?"

Adrien's face lit up. "You made me cookies?" He grabbed one off the plate and took a bite, groaning blissfully as the still warm cookie melted on his tongue. Marinette giggled, and grabbing the plate, headed up the stairs to the family room to play some Ultimate Mecha Strike 3 before dinner. After a few rounds, where either Marinette beat Adrien, or the team of the two of them beat some other unsuspecting team, Marinette's dad joined them, even managing to beat his daughter once. The three were laughing and swapping friendly insults when Marinette's mother called them to dinner.

The four of them sat around the table in the family kitchen, enjoying the food in companionable silence for a while. After several minutes Tom asked, "So, kids, how was school today?" Marinette answered with a story from their French Literature class, where they had been discussing The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Adrien laughed and said that the discussion was so intense that when someone agreed with him, it was a real _Victor_-y, to which Marinette's dad said, "There _Hugo_. Someone knows their way around a pun." The two looked at each other and burst out laughing. Sabine smiled at them indulgently, while Marinette gently banged her head against the table wondering what she had started. As the boys enjoyed their pun-off, Marinette and her mother talked about the cupcakes that Marinette was to decorate the next afternoon in a variety of floral designs.

After a dessert of tiny fruit tarts, which Adrien exclaimed over repeatedly, Marinette collected the dishes, and went into the kitchen to watch them. Adrien debated briefly continuing to swap jokes with her dad, but followed her into the kitchen and offered to help. The two of them stood at the sink, Marinette washing and Adrien drying. They were chatting companionably, when Adrien commented that he was drying way faster than she was washing, and couldn't she keep up, when her hand slipped on the dish she was washing, and she "accidentally" splashed him. When he shouted in surprise, she splashed him again. He retaliated by swatting her with the dish towel. Before things got too out of hand, Sabine stuck her head around the doorway, and asked if they wanted to join her and Tom in watching a movie. Marinette answered in the negative, saying, "Thanks, Maman, but we were just going to hang out in my room, play some games and stuff."

Sabine gave her daughter a hard look, then quirked an eyebrow, "Stuff?" Marinette immediately turned the color of her kwami, and even Adrien blushed, scratching the back of his head as he caught the look between mother and daughter. "Maman! No! I-we-not NO! Nothing like that! Talking. That's it. I promise."

Looking at the pair's embarrassed smiles, the way they were studiously avoiding looking at each other, and the honesty shining in her daughter's eyes, Sabine laughed. "Alright, you two. Have fun. Your father and I are going to bed after the movie. What time is your ride coming, Adrien?"

"10:30, Mrs. Cheng."

"Please call me Sabine." She hugged the boy, then called her husband to come and say goodnight, adding, "If you kids need a late night snack, please feel free to grab something." She gave them both a hug, as did her husband, who gave Marinette a kiss on the head as well, before they disappeared back into the living room, allowing the two teens to escape up the stairs into Marinette's bedroom. Adrien looked down at Marinette as she dropped to her chaise. "I can't believe your dad hugged me!" He said dazedly.

Marinette laughed. "I'm surprised you got away with only one! The way you two were getting along at dinner, I thought he was going to adopt you on the spot! I assumed I'd lost you for the night, I expected him to make you watch the movie with them, at the very least."

Soon, the two were playing their favorite new favorite game: pointing out all the times that they should have figured out who the other was. Marinette laughingly stated, "I realized today that you did your own voice for our movie! I even watched that movie sitting next to you! How could I not notice it was you!"

It was Adrien's turn to laugh as he sprawled on his back on her rug, tucking one hand behind his head. "There has to be some kind of illusion cast by the Miraculous. I'm sure I don't sound the same in the mask, and I know you don't. It's not far off, but definitely not the same. The time I've been kicking myself over is that music video with Clara Nightingale! I was terrified to put on that mask. No wonder you suggested everyone put on a mask, and immediately donned the Chat Noir one! I assumed, not for the last time, that you were just a fan of mine." He waggled his eyebrows.

Marinette leaned down to smack his knee. "I'll always be a fan of yours. You're the best partner a girl could ask for! I wouldn't be Ladybug without you. But yes. I was not ready to put on the Ladybug costume and mask. I was worried people might think we look alike."

"Don't worry, Mari. Nobody thinks you look like me."

She swatted his leg again. "Dork." Jumping up, she grabbed a couple of pillows, dropping down next to him on the floor. She lay on her side facing him, propping herself up on one elbow. Sighing, she said, "This has been an interesting week, hasn't it, Kitty."

Adrien chuckled, rolling onto his side to face her. "That, Bugaboo, is an understatement. I am thrilled to have my best friend with me in my everyday life. If you told me last week that I'd be hanging out in Ladybug's room with her after having dinner with her parents, I'd have said you were crazy."

Marinette smiled. "It's not like you've never been here before, with or without the mask. Although I think the meal with my parents went much better than last time."

Wincing, he groaned at the memory. "Why exactly did you tell me that you loved me? I now know that you were never in love with Chat Noir. It seems an odd thing to lie about."

Blushing, Marinette couldn't quite meet his gaze. "I'm so sorry. I panicked. I thought you had figured out that I was Ladybug, and I said the first really distracting thing that came into my head. I didn't realize my dad was going to overhear and blow everything out of proportion. I figured you'd laugh it off, let me down easy and leave. And technically? I was telling the truth. I just didn't realize it at the time." Pausing, she nervously started tapping her fingers, as her gaze drifted up to meet his. "Adrien. I told you earlier this week that I have a crush on you. I still do. Would you like to go to the movies with me? As a date?"

Sitting up, startled, Adrien stared at her. "Marinette. I can't date you! I mean, I'd love to go to the movies with you as friends, but we can't be in a relationship."

Copying his move, Marinette also sat up, with her legs folded under her, and placed a hand on his forearm. She smiled up at him saying, "Ladybug and Chat Noir can't date, it would be dangerous for them, but nobody knows that we are the ones behind the masks. It would be alright for Marinette and Adrien, we would just have to make sure to stay professional when transformed."

"That's not what I mean" said Adrien, slowly. "You are my friend, Marinette, probably my best friend. Friends are people who care about you, and who take care of you. They value you for who you are, not just what you can do for them You have shown me time and again that you truly do care abut the real me, not just the perfect shell." He tried to explain to her about all the people that loved him, and how love was about what you could get from the other person. How Marinette was a friend and that meant so much more to him. He concluded to the shell-shocked girl, "So you see why I can't go out with you. You don't really love me, you're a really great friend."

Somewhere during his revelation, a comforting hand had snuck over to his knee. Her mind was reeling with everything she had just heard, and her heart broke for her partner rather than herself. Marinette leaned over and wrapped her arms around Adrien and hugged him fiercely. "OK. I may not agree with your reasoning, but I respect that you feel that way. No dating. I am now, and will always be your friend and partner, no matter what. As such, I am here for you, in and out of the mask, and I want to spend more time with you, doing fun things, rather than only seeing you when we are in school, or when Hawkmoth sends someone to steal our jewelry."

Realizing that she wasn't angry, and that she definitely wanted to stay his friend, Adrien relaxed, hugging her back, enjoying the comfort of having her arms around him. He quickly agreed to spending more time together, trying to ignore the hollow feeling in his chest at how rapidly she appeared to change her mind about being in love with him, no matter how right he knew himself to be.


	5. Chapter 5

**Puns! Puns! And more puns! Yes, I had fun writing those. No, I only used about a third of what I came up with. I am more than willing to spam anyone who wants me to annoy them with puns. Marinette starts recruiting her promised allies... and Adrien admits some things to himself.**

Marinette and Adrien decided that they should get together to study over the weekend, and tried to work out a time. Saturday was out, since he was busy in the morning, and she had obligations in the afternoon, but they settled on late Sunday morning at her house, with a plan to get outside and do something after lunch.

The rest of the evening was spent on lighter topics, playing Monopoly (he won) and eating chouquettes (raspberry), but both teens held a heaviness in their hearts that they tried desperately not to show the other. As the hour grew later, Adrien's phone chirped, telling them that his ride was outside. Marinette walked him downstairs, pausing at the door to throw her arms around her partner, enveloping him in a tight hug. After a moment of surprise, he returned the hug with the same desperation. The two clung to each other for a minute, before separating, and Adrien headed outside. As he reached his car, he turned and waved, before slipping into the back seat.

As his car pulled away, Marinette turned back into her home, locking the door behind her and heading back up to her room, which already seemed emptier without her kitty's presence. She picked up her phone and texted her partner a reminder that she would always be there for him. Then she sighed and texted Alya, who she knew was dying to hear how her evening had gone. "We're just friends, and I'm OK with that… for now".

Her phone pinged almost immediately with two incoming replies. A "Thanks. I'm here for you, too." With a kitty emoji from Adrien, and a brief diatribe from Alya about how she shouldn't be a pushover. When Marinette pointed out that it wasn't just her feelings involved, and they'd had a real discussion about it, not to mention the fact that she had actually asked out Adrien Agreste, Alya backed off.

Sleep was slow in coming that night, as she thought about Adrien, and how anyone who loved him, or claimed to love him, used him for their own purposes… including her. As Ladybug, she had often relied upon Chat's trust in her in a battle, half explaining plans, or just pointing and expecting him to blindly follow. That trust was what made them such a good team, and she knew that she had the same kind of belief in him. That was the foundation of their partnership, and what made it work so well. On the other hand, her personal interactions with Chat Noir haunted her. She had often been annoyed at his over the top ways, the constant flirting and declarations of his love. She'd become frustrated with his insistence that they belonged together, regardless of how she felt, or what she'd told him. Knowing who he was behind the mask, and understanding the limited social interactions he'd been allowed in his life, and the form that many of those interactions had taken, she felt guilty for never looking too closely at the lonely boy beneath the jokes and cocky banter. Sighing, she resolved to spend more time with both sides of her partner.

The next morning, after the early rush in the bakery, Marinette asked her mother for a few moments of her time. She trusted her mother's advice, and knowing her parents to have always been loving and accepting of any friends she brought home, she briefly outlined her conversation with Adrien the night before. Confessing to Sabine how everyone he loves had used him, and because of this, he valued friendship much higher than anything else. She cried when she got to the part where they were attracted to each other, but he didn't want to date her because he didn't believe she loved him, conveniently leaving out any mention of Ladybug and Chat Noir. "So, Maman, I want him to spend time here. I want him to know that families and love are about so much more than what they can get from each other. Even if he never wants anything more than friendship from me, he deserves to be loved for who he is."

Sabine had tears in her eyes, but her heart swelled with pride at her daughter's thoughtfulness. "Of course we can, dear. Anytime you want to bring him over is fine, just give us a heads up. We'll make sure to feed him properly, too."

"Thanks, Maman!" Marinette threw her arms around her mother. "You and Papa are the best!"

Marinette was in the back of the bakery late that afternoon, decorating cupcakes, when she heard the screams. Running out of the work area to the front windows, she saw that the street had been yarn-bombed. Colorful yarn hung from every surface: street signs, trees, cars, even pedestrians. All were draped in warm scarves, blankets, sweaters and socks. A middle aged woman dressed in a short leather skirt, lace up leather corset and thigh high boots strode down the street and into the park, brandishing a whip in one hand and a pair of knitting needles in the other.

Yelling to her parents that she was going to run out and gather any stragglers into the bakery for safety, then hide out at the school, Marinette hurried the few stragglers (some trailing yarn and unravelling socks) into the bakery, before ducking into an alleyway and calling for her transformation.

Ladybug swung out of the alley, and over to the edge of the park where Domiknitrix was lamenting the lack of respect that hand-made items received. Perching on top of the merry-go-round, Ladybug watched as the Akuma pointed her needles at a bench, and yarn shot out, making a lemon yellow, woolly slipcover, completely hiding the bench from view. From off to her right, she heard "Don't come _unraveled_, you needle listen to my _purls_ of wisdom!"

Chat Noir hopped down from the fence, leaping and flipping his way across the park, as he avoided getting buried in a giant knit scarf that seemed to be chasing him. "Milady! I'm having a _ball_ out here, but if you want to _hook_ me up with your lucky charm, that would be _purrfect_!"

For a split second, Ladybug considered letting him get wrapped up in the fluffy white wooliness that was coating everywhere that he had just been, if only to avoid hearing any more yarn-related puns, but she obliged him, tossing her yo-yo into the air, and receiving a red and black spotted hairbrush in return. Looking around, she grasped a branch from the ground and a handful of wet leaves, quickly tying the hairbrush to the end of the branch. With a swing of her yoyo from behind Domiknitrix, over her head, scattering the wet leaves out in front of her over the cement walkway, Ladybug gave one last flip, landing neatly behind Chat Noir. As the akuma slipped on the wet leaves, Ladybug whipped out the branch with the hairbrush, using it like a fishing rod, tangling the bristles of the hairbrush into the blue sock that was appearing at the end of the knitting needles, yanking the bundle from Domiknitrix's hands, dropping the bundle in front of her partner. He disintegrated the needles with a cry of "Cataclysm", gathering the black energy in his right hand, then touching the needles gently with the tip of his fingers.

The deep purple butterfly was caught and purified as it emerged, and, as it was released, Chat said, "_Wool_ you look at that! The _tension_ here was unbelievable! You cut it no problem." When Ladybug face-palmed, he sighed. "My jokes are _worsted_ on you." After a pause, he added "I'm just _ribbing_ you. I know you cannot re-_stitch_ my charms."

In that moment, Ladybug was sorely tempted to throw the hairbrush at her partner, but refrained tossing it up in the air instead, with a cry of "Miraculous Ladybug!", settling for shooting Chat a dirty look. He grinned and offered up his fist to bump, commenting, "You know, there is a great bakery just around the corner, if you're hungry."

Laughing, she bumped his fist, and said, "Are you angling for free pastries, kitty? You know me and my family are always happy to feed you." Ladybug's earring beeped, and she was about to swing off when she realized that she didn't need to. Instead, she reached out and grabbed Chat's wrist, giving him a little tug. "Over here." Releasing his wrist, she swung over to the alley she had transformed in, pulling him back to a secluded corner. Using his body as an additional barrier between her and the world, she said "Tikki, spots off."

Knowing that Ladybug was Marinette and seeing Ladybug _become_ Marinette were two very different things. Chat Noir had spent the past week knowing that his partner was one of his closest friends, but this was the first time he'd ever seen her transform. And frankly, he was more than a little stunned. He didn't realize quite how much he had been staring until Marinette reached up and closed his mouth with one finger, grinning at him. As he continued to stare, Marinette started to get nervous, the smile slipping off her face. "Is it really so bad, Kitty? You knew it was me under the spots."

Her voice kicked his brain into gear again, and he shook himself. "Sorry, that was just… wow. That was just amazing. Plagg, claws in." As Chat Noir faded into Adrien, Marinette understood how he had felt. She'd see the others turn back into their civilian selves, because she had needed to return their Miraculous, so the process wasn't new to her, but seeing her partner change for the first time was different.

She smiled at Adrien, said "Come on, my parents will worry.", and led him back towards the bakery. Entering together, they let the people hanging around know that it was safe, and that the heroes had taken care of the akuma. Most of them were happily standing around talking, enjoying pastries and coffee that her parents provided during akuma attacks. Marinette ran to her Papa, saying that she had made it to the school, and finding Adrien sheltering there, they had hidden together, until they saw the magical swarm of ladybugs, removing yarn from the front steps of College Francoise Dupont.

After a quick hug from each of her parents, for both her and Adrien, Marinette headed back to where she had been working on decorating cupcakes before the akuma had attacked. She pulled up a stool and grabbed a couple of croissants for Adrien, palming a cookie under the counter to where Tikki was hiding. She offered one to Plagg as well, but he just gave her a completely disgusted look. "I'm sure that some people appreciate them. Adrien here raves about your pastries, but I need something with a more delicate flavor." Adrien sighed and reached into his shirt pocket, pulling out a slice of camembert, handing it over to his kwami, who zipped off to join Tikki.

Giggling, Marinette picked up her decorating tools, and was creating violets out of spun sugar, when her mother called out that she had a visitor. Alya came into the room in a whirl of activity, clutching a bag of her own pastries. Noting that her normal stool was occupied, she grabbed a stool at the other workbench, and started talking a mile a minute about the battle, the akuma, and about how Ladybug and Chat Noir seemed to be back on more normal ground… none of the squabbling they had been doing in the weeks leading up to Oblivio, and definitely more at ease than they had immediately after the kiss. She also speculated on the fact that they headed off together in the same direction after the attack. Fortunately, Alya didn't look up to notice the slightly embarrassed look that passed between her friends, or the wholly Chat Noir smirk on Adrien's face when she complimented some of his fancier moves from the most recent fight.

Marinette had her back to her friend, focusing her attention on the cupcakes, but Adrien didn't miss her eyeroll at his preening. Turning his head, so his expression was hidden from Alya, he stuck his tongue out in response to her eyeroll. She crossed her eyes and made fish faces, leaving a streak of icing across her cheek. Adrien tried to make a face at her in return, but burst out laughing instead. That snapped Marinette's control, and she stepped back from the counter, so no harm could come to her work. Alya looked up from the footage on her phone, not knowing what was so funny, only to see Adrien bent almost double on his stool, and Marinette with her back against the wall next to him, hands covering her face, shaking with mirth. The two had almost completely stopped snickering, and Adrien was able to sit up straight, when they made eye contact. Adrien widened his eyes and cocked an eyebrow at her, which set Marinette off again, to the point where she toppled over, ending up practically sitting in his lap. He just wrapped his arms around her so she didn't fall to the ground, and started shaking as laughter overtook him once more. Alya watched them with a shake of her head and an indulgent smile. The second time they'd calmed down, Adrien still held his partner in place with an arm around her waist, Alya asked, "What was that all about?"

With a glance at each other, the two answered in unison, "I have no idea."

Shaking her head, Alya went back to polishing up her post for the Ladyblog. When she was done, she posted with a triumphant "There!" and Adrien immediately picked up his phone to read it, as Marinette shuffled back to the counter to finish up the last of her cupcakes. As she was boxing them up, Adrien's phone pinged, signaling that his bodyguard was outside to pick him up. With a wave at the girls, and a "See you tomorrow" for Marinette, he headed out into the evening.

Alya turned on her best friend. "Spill. What was that all about, girl? And talk to me about this 'friends for now' ridiculousness."

Marinette could feel herself turning pink, but she looked at Alya as she cleaned up the last of the decorating supples. "What? He was making faces at me. It was funny!"

"Girl, you ended up sitting in his lap. He held you there. You still say you are just friends?"

"Yes, Alya. He stopped me from falling on the floor. Come on upstairs, we'll talk."

Knowing she'd get answers, she followed Marinette upstairs to her room. Alya lounged on the chaise, while Marinette sat in her desk chair. "So…" prompted Alya.

Marinette recapped the past twenty four hours for her, "Basically, everyone who has claimed to love him has used him, so he things friends mean a million times more. I want to show him that he is wrong, but I'm not going to push him or pressure him, because that would make him continue believing the way he has. By his definition, I am okay being his friend."

Nodding, Alya hugged her. "That's really horrible. Whatever you need, I'm here for you. Both of you. We'll show him what love really is."

Back in his room, Adrien was supposed to be practicing his piano. Instead, he was pacing his room, tugging on his hair, trying to figure out Ladybug. Who was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. "Plagg, During that akuma fight today… I told her what to do, and she just did it. No question, no hesitation. Why?"

"Kid, she is your partner. You both do that. You trust each other. Yes, she is usually the one with the plans, but when you suggest something, she always listens to you."

Thinking back on it, Ladybug had always listened to his plans and his advice. He was just usually too busy throwing himself at the akuma to come up with any ideas of his own. He distinctly remembered a few times when she'd been stumped and asked his advice. How could he have forgotten that? It was a very Marinette thing for Ladybug to do.

His thoughts of Ladybug turned into thoughts of the new Marinette. He realized that she hadn't really changed that much, it was only in how she acted with him – Adrien him. He thought about how her stutter had disappeared, and her blushes were mostly gone, too. He thought bout how she treated him as a combination of Adrien and Chat Noir, which he guessed he was. He thought about how she rolled her eyes at him, or smacked his bicep when he was trying to get a rise out of her. He thought about the way she smelled like vanilla, cinnamon and sugar. He shook his head and pushed that thought away. She was so much more than her beautiful face and breathtaking smile. She was a friend, she cared about him, and he wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize that. He loved her, Ladybug and Marinette, he knew that, but he was so scared of losing her, he couldn't imagine his life without her warmth in it. He couldn't wait to see her tomorrow, even just doing homework. Considering and discarding the idea of visiting Marinette as Chat Noir, he settled in to wait, making sure he had everything ready for the next day.


	6. Chapter 6

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was not a morning person. Even when she got plenty of sleep, she was grumpy and slow to awaken. When she stayed up late sketching, clearing her mind as she tried to figure out how to show her partner what love really meant, then spent the next few hours tossing and turning as she tried to shut her brain off, she was less than appreciative of a certain black kitty that knocked on her skylight a half hour after dawn, even if he did bring her coffee.

Her parents were already up and working in the bakery, so when Marinette opened her eyes to the persistent knocking overhead, she didn't hesitate to let loose a growl that her partner would have been proud of… had it not been aimed at him.

While he was a little taken aback at the hostile reception, Chat Noir knocked again, this time making sure the cup of coffee was in her line of sight. One eye cracked open, and, although momentarily tempted by the coffee, Marinette closed her eyes and pulled her blanket over her head. Finding her antics amusing, and having zero sense of self preservation, Chat knocked once again. On a groan of frustration, Marinette sat up, opened the skylight just enough to snatch the cup out of Chat's hand, and slammed the skylight closed. Meeting her partner's eyes, she muttered, "Come back in 3 hours and I'll feed you" before setting the cup down and rolling herself back up in her blankets.

She stayed like that until she heard Chat sigh heavily and leap off the roof, heading off into the sunrise. For Marinette, however, the damage was done, and she lay there, now wide awake, as she sipped at her coffee, thinking about the day. She'd finished her history homework, an essay on a historically significant event in the life of Notre Dame, assigned as a tribute to the damaged structure that they had worked so hard to save. Unfortunately, magic was no help in a disaster like that, so she and Chat had fed their fire power-ups to the kwamis, and asked the firefighters how they could help. They had trekked in and out of the building, saving everything that they could until the spire collapsed, and it was deemed too dangerous, even for superheroes. She'd stood watching, hand in hand with her partner, as they'd mourned alongside the rest of Paris.

The homework she had to do with Adrien that morning was her physics. She knew the equations, and what numbers to plug in where, she just didn't understand why. Why those numbers went there, what any of it really meant, or even why Planck's constant was important in the first place!

After homework, they had to go and see Master Fu. Marinette had been meaning to all week, but hadn't made it a priority, and now Tikki was really nagging her about it. She thought that it would be a nice thing to do with Adrien, she wasn't sure if he had ever been to Master Fu's storefront, although she knew they'd met. In the guardian's neighborhood, there was a street market that day, so she thought about taking Adrien there afterwards, just as a way to wander the stalls and spend more time together.

The caffeine was starting to work its magic, and Marinette was humming a Kitty Section song to herself as she got ready. She'd been to several of their rehearsals in recent weeks, helping to design and create costumes for them, as well as acting as an unofficial photographer/videographer, and found herself often humming or singing their songs.

Once she was dressed in a sky blue sundress that matched her eyes, and a navy cardigan, she headed down to the apartment's kitchen to keep her promise to her partner. Switching the music over to Jagged Stone, Marinette sang along as she chopped up the fresh fruit to go along with the crepes she was making for breakfast. She was just placing everything on the table, when he mother called up that she had a visitor, and Adrien appeared at the top of the stairs.

After his less than friendly greeting that morning, he tentatively waved at her, and she laughed, pulling him into a quick hug before stepping back over to the table. "It's ok, Chaton. I'm awake now. I'm so sorry for earlier, but you were so very early, and I just don't do mornings!"

Tikki floated up from where she had been hiding. "It's true. She also stayed up late, worrying about you."

"TIKKI!" Marinette blushed.

"What? You actually growled this morning. It was funny, but he should know why."

Her blush deepening, Marinette said, "I actually growled?" They both nodded. "Oh, Adrien, I'm so sorry."

Plagg joined the conversation, "It was very impressive. If you ever want to switch, I would be proud to be your kwami."

The other three rolled their eyes. "Don't worry about it, Marinette. I've always been up with the sun. I forget that not everyone is. Now that you are no longer looking at me like I ate your hamster, the whole thing is quite funny." Adrien chuckled, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

Closing the distance between them, Marinette engulfed him in a real hug, laughing softly, her breath on his ear raising the hairs on the back of his neck, and sending warmth flowing though his veins. She released him, but grabbed his hand, pulling him over to the table. "Breakfast, as promised" she said, gesturing at the food she had laid out.

"Wow!" This looks delicious! Thank you Marinette!" Adrien exclaimed sliding into the seat next to hers. As they ate, Marinette filled him in on her plan for the rest of the day, and Adrien eagerly agreed. He was free from lessons for the day, and had been given a little bit of free reign, as long as he was having an "all day revision session" with one of the few friends his father approved of. Not that Gabriel has ever come out and directly acknowledged his approval of her, but Adrien's father had admitted that she was talented, and more often than not let him attend things if he knew that Marinette would be present.

After they ate and then washed up their breakfast things, the pair spread out over the kitchen table to work on their homework. Adrien was a good teacher, and Marinette was finally able to make sense of the concepts her teacher had been explaining. Adrien loved being able to do his homework with a friend, and the time seemed to fly by, as they knocked out their remaining assignments.

It was a warm, clear day, and the teens were happy to be out of the house, strolling in the sunshine. It was only a half hour's walk to Master Fu's shop, and as the pair had nowhere else to be, they enjoyed themselves, chatting and people watching as they made their way through Paris' streets towards the guardian of the Miraculous.

Raising his eyebrows as the pair entered together, Master Fu greeted them with a smile, as Wayzz came over to greet Tikki and Plagg. Marinette rubbed his head, passing along the message that Carapace sent his regards, catching herself from adding "dude" to her sentence.

The three humans sat down, each with a steaming mug of tea, as Marinette outlined what had happened: the Miraculous Cure had worked on the surface, but they'd both had dreams about their partners' true identities. Identities which had been confirmed as true once they sat down to talk about it. They told Master Fu that they were friends as civilians, not being aware that he already knew that, and explained how they had become closer over the past two weeks, even before their identities had been confirmed. Marinette surprised Adrien by telling Master Fu that she wanted to entrust Chat Noir with the civilian identities of Rena Rouge and Carapace, in case there was ever a time that she was unable to come to him, or to deliver their miraculous. The guardian explained that Ladybug had been given the power to select and the knowledge of identities, as she was to be the next guardian, but that he would think about their situation, and let them know.

He went on to explain that while the Miraculous Cure does restore Paris to how it was before Hawkmoth sent out his Akuma, it did not fix everything, as nothing could ever be exactly the way that it was before. There are always small marks left behind. Scars on a healing city. This usually manifests as a car with a flat tire, a broken window, or the unfortunate case of the purple elephant that the last Ladybug had to deal with. While Chat Noir and Ladybug's memories had been wiped clean of everything that happened while they were being chased by Oblivio, some part of their subconscious remained untouched, manifesting itself in their dreams.

Once their tea was over, and their talk wound down, the pair called for their kwamis to join them, and headed out for the street market. They stopped at all the different stalls, checking out a plethora of souvenirs made for tourists, paintings, housewares and stalls overflowing with toys. They decided to eat lightly for lunch, because there were so many other goodies that they wanted to try as they walked around, so they made their way to the food stalls, Adrien picking out a hand held pie, and Marinette choosing a cup of delicious smelling soup. They sat on the short wall overlooking the path along the Seine as they ate their lunch, both freely sharing their food with the other. As they were finishing their food, a few of their classmates approached. Marinette called a greeting to Rose and Mylene, waving them over. They all sat together, chatting about their weekends. Mylene had spent much of it on the Couffaine's houseboat, as Ivan had been there all day Saturday for rehearsal. In fact he was meeting the two girls shortly, along with Juleka and Luka. A quick text from Mylene, told the others where they were sitting, and to come meet them there. Rose was telling everyone how adorable she thought all the yarn-bombed trees looked as the others walked up, carrying food.

Internally, Marinette was in a state of panic. This was the first time talking to Luka since he was akumatized, and she wasn't sure how to handle what he'd said to her. "You're the song that's been stuck in my head since we first met." It was possibly the most flattering thing that anyone had ever said to her, and she definitely liked spending time with him, but she couldn't feel the same way, especially after the past week. She was sure that Luka knew of her love for Adrien. She was fairly certain he'd figured it out on his own, and if not, his sister would have told him.

Her panicking proved unnecessary, however, as neither Luka nor anybody else brought up Silencer, instead they were focused on how colorful things had become with Domiknitrix. When Adrien blurted out that if they thought it was cute, then "She had really pulled the wool over their eyes", Marinette stood up to the sound of her friends' groans, and announced that it was time for them to leave. Still chuckling at his own joke, Adrien followed her.


	7. Chapter 7

_Hey guys! I am SO SORRY! Things have been a little crazy this month, and with MariChat May, I haven't added on to this story. Not to mention the fact that my kids ripped pages out of my notebook, which caused yet ANOTHER re-write. BUT the good news is, I'm already halfway through Chapter 8, so hopefully you won't start picketing my house demanding more (just yet...)_

_The fact that this story has over 100 followers amazes me! You guys have stuck with me! Thank you! *cries happy tears*_

_So... without further ado... Chapter 7_

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Marinette and Adrien wandered together through the festival, stopping at booths that caught their attention. As the came to the one of one street, they came across a stand selling Ladybug and Chat Noir fan items. Sharing a glance, the pair headed straight for the booth. Adrien focused in on the Ladybug merchandise, while Marinette gravitated towards the Chat Noir display.

Marinette picked out a shirt without showing it to Adrien, and a small braided black leather wristband with a green paw print charm. Paying, she slipped the shirt into a bag, and fastened the bracelet around her left wrist. Turning to Adrien she moved to his side, peering at the items he was perusing. He already had a black and red Ladybug shirt draped over one arm. "I really want the sweatshirt," he said, "but my father would never let me wear it. This I can wear under what he can see." He raised the arm with the shirt.

Putting her hand on his uncovered arm, Marinette said to him, "If you want the sweatshirt, get it. You can keep it at my house, and wear it whenever you come over."

Adrien threw his arms around her. "You're brilliant, Marinette! Thank you!" He snatched up the sweatshirt as well as the t-shirt. Putting both in the bag, he paid the vendor and practically floated back out onto the street.

As they approached the busiest part of the fair, Marinette, being the smaller of the two, was bumped and jostled by the crowd, almost losing sight of Adrien at one point. When he waded his way back to her, he grabbed her hand saying, "It took me long enough to find you, I'm not losing you now!" Which caused Marinette to blush pink.

When the crowds thinned out, Marinette expected Adrien to drop her hand. Instead, he continued to hold it, pulling her closer to whisper to her, "Where now, Princess?"

Smiling up at him, she suggested that they start heading back to her house, but take the long route, heading through the park. Adrien indicated his agreement by squeezing her hand. He didn't let go as they turned to walk, unhurriedly, back towards the bakery.

When they were back in Marinette's room, Adrien reached into the bag to pull out his new sweatshirt. Instead his fingers found a royal blue t-shirt. He pulled it out of the bag and handed it to Marinette. "Is this yours? I don't remember you picking it up."

"No Kitty. I bought it for you. Look." She held up the shirt, facing him. On it was a black cat, tangled up in a ball of yarn with the phrase 'Having a ball' on the front, and 'I'm Pawsome!' on the back.

Adrien's eyes grew wide, and his smiled became positively radiant. "For me? Truly?"

He stepped towards her to give her a hug, and Marinette stepped towards him, but her foot caught on the edge of her rug, and she tripped. Adrien reached out to catch her, but the angle was off, and they both ended up on the ground, Adrien on top of Marinette. After a moment of shock, both of them laughed at the familiarly awkward position, although the lack of masks made it feel much more intimate. Their laughter died and their breaths caught. Adrien seriously considered closing the distance between them and kissing her, but insecurity pulled him back. He was still unsure as to how she really felt. It had only been two days since they had talked about what he thought love was, but what he believed so strongly on Friday, he was having some serious doubts about on Sunday. It was then, when Marinette shifted underneath him, that he realized he had been laying on top of her for longer than appropriate.

Quickly rolling to the side, Adrien was about to apologize when Marinette cut him off. "Save the puns, Kitty." She teased. "I don't need to hear that I'm in so much trouble, I'm under Agreste."

Adrien's eyes widened at the pun. "Princess," he breathed. "Was that a pun?"

He felt Marinette's laugh before it rang out through the room. Her laughter was rich and genuine, and him laughing along. They lay on the rug in Marinette's bedroom, laughing and clutching at their stomachs. They were starting to calm down, when Adrien snorted, setting them off again. When their laughter had calmed down again, they rolled onto their sides to face each other. Marinette's hand had fluttered to his chest, smoothing the wrinkles out of Adrien's shirt. His hand came up to cover hers, and this time he didn't think, but leaned forward and kissed her.

Marinette's eyes flew from where his hand covered hers, to his eyes, before they dropped closed, his eyes following suit. When they broke apart, Marinette had a little half-smile on her face, and looked dazedly up at Adrien. "I love you" popped out of her mouth before she could stop it.

Adrien jerked back at her words. "Oh! Marinette. I am so sorry. I shouldn't have done that." He saw the look of hurt flash across her face, and barely restrained himself from hissing her again to make the look go away. He desperately wanted to believe her words, and he almost did. There was a part of him, deep inside, a fear of trusting and a deeper fear of losing that held him back. He jumped to his feet, and gathering up his Ladybug shirt, stammered, "I should go. I'm sorry, Marinette, truly." Marinette stood, also, and handed him his cat pun shirt. "Take this, too, Kitty. I know what you think, and I'm sorry I said the words that I did, but I'm not sorry for how I feel. I'm not going to turn you away or abandon you. I'll be here if you want to visit tonight. If you want to call, I'd like that too. If not, I will see you tomorrow in school. I have no wish to pressure you into more than you're ready for, Adrien. I regret saying words that upset you, but I don't regret feeling what I feel."

Adrien stepped closer to her, and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, resting his cheek against the top of her head. "Thank you, Marinette. I need to think. I'd talk to Plagg, but he'd just tell me to eat some cheese. I will talk to you tonight. I promise."

Closing his eyes and inhaling deeply, Adrien memorized her scent. Vanilla and cinnamon, cookies and bread. He took one last steadying breath, before releasing Marinette and heading down the stairs, waving to her parents on his way out. Marinette watched him go, her heart breaking for him, knowing he had to fight his demons on his own time and his own terms, but wishing, just a little, that he would hurry it up a little. That kiss had nearly destroyed her willpower to give him the space she knew he needed.


	8. Chapter 8

_Wow. Has it really been 2 months since I updated?! I am SO sorry! Ep, Lyra and I are doing Adrien Augreste, but only the weekly version (we need a break) so check that out on Epcot97's account. After that... I'm fully focused on THIS story!_

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Adrien paced his room, muttering to Plagg. "She still says she loves me. I'm not sure how to believe that. Her life, her home is so different from mine. The way her family is just so open and willing to let people in, nobody trying to get anything from anyone else. They obviously love each other. Could I be the one who is wrong about what love is?"

Looking over at Plagg, who was watching him, eating his Camembert, he implored, "What should I do? What do you think?"

Plagg shook his cheese at him. "I can't make these choices for you. I've told you many times… just choose cheese. It's easier." Sighing, he added, "Spend time with Pigtails. It only took you a weekend to start questioning what you've believed your whole life when you started spending more time with her. So spend more time with her. Listen. Observe. Be friends. But most importantly…" Plagg paused while he tossed back his last cheese wedge. "Get me more cheese."

Adrien rolled his eyes but thought about what his kwami had said while he went to fetch an extra wheel of camembert. He thought about spending more time with Marinette, and it made him smile. He decided that he would text her, inviting her to lunch the next day. When she replied that she would love to go, he immediately started making plans.

In her room, Marinette was also pacing. She knew she needed to take it slow for Adrien, not to push him, but he had kissed her, and it had been amazing. They had both stopped overanalyzing for a few moments, and just felt. Unconsciously, her fingers came up to brush her lips as she thought about the kiss, and about the hug that had followed, where he'd held onto her as if she were the only thing keeping him from drowning.

Marinette decided to put her nervous energy to use, and went downstairs to the bakery kitchen to whip up some passionfruit macarons. She would give them to him tomorrow at school. She'd just set her foot on the steps to head downstairs when her phone beeped. Snatching it up, she saw that Adrien had texted her, inviting her to lunch the next day. Smiling, she told him he was always welcome to join her at the bakery. He asked if he could take her out somewhere, to spend time, just the two of them. Smiling, she agreed, and skipped down to the bakery, humming softly to herself.

Arriving at school the next morning, bakery box in hand, Marinette headed over to where Alya and Nino were standing together on the front steps. They both greeted her cheerfully, their smiles growing wider when she pulled out baked goods for each of them. Adrien's car pulled up shortly after Marinette arrived, and he hurried over to join his friends.

Spotting the bakery boxes in the hands of the other two, as well as the one remaining box in Marinette's hand, he turned a fully Chat Noir grin on the girl, asking, "Are those for me?"

Smiling innocently up at him, Marinette slid the box behind her back and tutted. "These are passionfruit macarons for a very special friend of mine."

Adrien groaned softly, his mouth already watering at the sound of the delicious treat, his meager breakfast not doing much to keep the sound of his grumbling stomach at bay. Marinette's smile turned wicked as his body automatically swayed towards where the treats were, and she laughed, throwing back her head. "Well, I suppose you can have one, but you have to come get it."

Pouncing, even before she'd finished speaking, Adrien's body had Marinette's up against the wall, his arms reaching around her to snag the box of treats before she dropped them, bringing his cheek in contact with hers. "Smile, Minou." Marinette breathed into his ear as she felt his hands grasp the box. Letting go, he pulled back to look at her quizzically, and she just tilted her head towards Alya who was recording the whole thing, as she and Nino laughed. Embarrassed, Adrien hid his face in Marinette's shoulder, as she, too, laughed, but reached up to scratch right where his feline ears would be, were he transformed. He melted against her, fighting the urge to purr and embarrass himself further.

Alya put her phone away, and Adrien raised his head as the bell rang, indicating it was time to head to class. The four friends walked into the building together, chatting about their weekends. Alya and Nino lead their foursome, and Marinette offered the box of treats he hadn't quite managed to retrieve to Adrien giggling when he immediately opened it and shoved one in is mouth, humming with delight.

That day at lunch, Adrien took her to a little bistro about 5 minutes from the school. They sat together, comfortably, talking and joking, smiling and laughing. Once they were done eating, Adrien started fidgeting, nervous about what he wanted to say. Marinette was not one to be fooled, though, and she called him on his hedging. "Adrien, what's going on? Talk to me."

"I'm sorry about what happened yesterday." When Marinette opened her mouth to say something, but he held up his hand to forestall anything she was going to say. A blush bloomed in his cheeks when he uttered his next words. "I don't regret kissing you. I, uh, actually really enjoyed that. I'm sorry that I told you one thing on Friday, and had completely gone back on what I said by Sunday. I don't want to be that kind of guy. The truth is I am thinking about what you've said. That's all I can give you right now, but I do want to keep spending time with you."

Marinette reached out, and placed her hand on his forearm as he fidgeted with his napkin. "Chaton, it is alright. I will always be here for you, and will always be your friend. I will always love you." Now it was her turn to raise a hand to prevent him from interrupting. "Just listen. You are my partner. Yes, I've had a crush on you for as long as I have known you, but it's more than that. You are part of me. I can't imagine my life without you in it, and I don't want to try. Whether we become something romantic or not, we are friends. I will never pressure you to be something you are uncomfortable with."

The earnestness in her voice and the honest pleading in her eyes had him sliding his hand into hers and squeezing. "Friends forever. Partners, first and foremost. Nothing will ever stop that, I promise."

It seemed perfectly natural to hold hands as they walked back to school, touching on lighter topics, and laughing at jokes only the two of them would understand. They dropped hands just outside the school, neither of them wanting to answer the questions their classmates would raise if they walked in hand-in-hand, both of them wishing for a quiet afternoon.

Unfortunately, Hawkmoth had other ideas, as the sounds of destruction and screaming floated up through the open classroom windows. Marinette fled the room, making excuses about needing the bathroom, throwing a glance back over her shoulder as her partner's hand shot up, looking to leave as well.

Chat Noir touched down next to Ladybug, and glanced at the akuma. With a groan, he said, "Not again!" Ladybug patted his shoulder sympathetically as he let out a giant sneeze. Calling on their powers, they leaped into action, in what felt like a weekly battle against Mr. Pigeon.

The battle was over in less than a minute, the pair having fought him a couple of dozen times previously. Mr. Ramier invited the pair for ice cream, but they declined, instead offering more pointers for staying positive, and trying to find ways for him to feel not so much passion for his hapless pigeons. What neither of them saw was Mr. Ramier pull a piece of bread from his pocket and feed it to a rat next to the bench, the bulk of his affections transferring over time from his feathered friends to the furry ones.

School not yet being over for the day, the pair returned to class, having been gone for less than ten minutes, their classmates were still returning from their akuma shelters, and there were only a few eyebrows raised at the fact that they had left and returned together, but they shrugged them off saying that they'd hidden with another class.

As school was letting out, Adrien placed his hand on Marinette's shoulder, turning her to face him. "Tonight?" He asked, not quite ready to leave her yet. "I have Chinese and piano, but after that?"

She smiled up at him. "I have a cake to decorate, but you're welcome to come over, have dinner, and then we'll do homework together?"

His grin split his face. "Dinner? Sounds amazing. _Cat_ch you later." With that, he hurried down the stairs to where his bodyguard was waiting for him. Putting one foot in the car, he stopped and looked up to where Marinette was coming down the stairs at a more sedate pace, doing her best not to stumble. A smile played across Adrien's lips as he raised his hand and waved to her, the rest of his body following his leg into the car, folding down into the seat. He watched her out the window as he drove away, until the car turned a corner, and those mesmerizing pigtails disappeared from sight.


	9. Chapter 9

_Thank you so much for sticking with my irregular updates! You folks are amazing!_

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Adrien knocked at the door of the residence, since the bakery was already closed by the time he arrived. He had found that "group project" was a great excuse to get out of the house. He didn't even have to talk to his father about it, Nathalie was the perfect sounding board. Of course, even she might say something if all his group projects were at Marinette's. He shrugged to himself, thinking that if he couldn't leave as Adrien, he could always leave as Chat. Marinette wouldn't mind, he was sure of that, whichever guise he showed up in.

The sound feet clattering down the stairs pulled him out of his thoughts, and his smile bloomed as Marinette opened the door. She grinned at him and beckoned him inside. "I'm just about done decorating this cake. Do you mind hanging out in the bakery for 10-15 more minutes? I'll grab a few snacks, but Maman said not to let you spoil your dinner."

Grinning at her, Adrien popped a chouquette in his mouth. "Not a problem, Princess. You know I can always eat." He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Let's see this cake. Do I get to eat the frosting?"

Laughter trailed behind her as Marinette turned and headed into the bakery, Adrien followed her into the back room. She asked about his piano lessons, and they talked about music while she finished up. Adrien reminisced about how much fun he'd had while he played with Kitty Section, but admitted to being relieved that they'd understood why he couldn't permanently join the band. His schedule kept him on his toes, even if his father _had_ agreed to it, which in and of itself was a long shot. There was so much that he wanted to do, this was one fight that he hadn't bothered with. He had an open invitation to go play with them, and that made him feel incredibly welcomed.

He watched Marinette as she spun delicate pink roses to place on the cake in front of her. The cake itself was a white confection, and the delicate pink roses made it look incredibly elegant. When he asked what it was for, she grinned, and told him it was for a little girl's 8th birthday.

When the cake had been completed and safely stowed away, Marinette started packing up her decorating supplies. Adrien reached over and, with Marinette's nod of approval, started licking the spoon she had used to mix the frosting. She had just finished up when her mother called down the stairs that dinner was ready.

As the four of them sat around the table enjoying their dinner, they talked over funny things that had happened that day. At one point, Tom was trying to remember the name of an actor that had come through the bakery earlier. A little prompting from Sabine, and he was able to recall it. Then, with a grin that split his face in two, he added, "You see, it's a sign that I am _well-bread_. I never _baguette_ a face."

Adrien was sipping from his cup when Tom started speaking. Being startled by the pun, Adrien let out a hearty guffaw, only, his mouth being full of milk at the time, he ended up spraying most of it all over Marinette. There was a moment of shocked silence, and then all four of them burst into gales of laughter, until Tom was able to wheeze out, "My daughter is such a _drip_." This caused Adrien to have to grip onto the table to remain in his chair he was laughing so hard.

Shooting a disgruntled look at her father, and another at Adrien, Marinette excused herself from the table to clean up, and change her white shirt for something that was a little less see through. Thinking that this would be the perfect time to debut the new shirt that she made, she grinned to herself and ran upstairs to put it on.

It was a good thing that Adrien put his cup down when he heard Marinette coming back down the stairs, otherwise the milk might have come out of his nose this time. Or, Heaven help him, his tear ducts, like Kim was demonstrating the other day. Instead, he just choked on air as his partner came down wearing a black t-shirt. It wasn't the way the shirt skimmed her body, although it did that. It wasn't even the fact that the black made her eyes appear even more luminous, although it did that, too. It was the green trim around the collar and sleeves, and the small green pawprint, _his_ pawprint, right over her heart that did him in.

Upon seeing his reaction, Marinette's smirk morphed into a smile that radiated concern and innocence. Adrien didn't buy it, and he didn't think her parents did either, the way that Tom was barely able to contain a snigger, and the corners of Sabine's mouth kept quirking up. They may not have known why the shirt affected him, but they were not oblivious to the fact that affect him it did.

After dinner, Adrien was to be picked up by his bodyguard, although they did sneak in a few highly competitive rounds of Uno before the boy had to leave. When the car pulled up outside, Marinette walked Adrien down to the door. She hugged him goodbye, and he whispered in her ear, "Is it alright if Chat comes back for a visit in an hour or so?"

"Of course!" She nodded. "I did want to have a _chat_ with you, anyway."

Adrien's smile threatened to split his face in two. "Milady! Was that a pun? I am so proud of you!" He pretended to wipe away a tear until Marinette slapped his arm, rolling her eyes.

"Go home. I'll see you in school tomorrow." Then with a wink for him, and a wave for his bodyguard who was hovering close enough to overhear their conversation, she disappeared back into the bakery, closing the door behind her.

Adrien shrugged and slid into the backseat, a smile playing around his lips for his whole ride back to the mansion.

An hour later, he was back on Marinette's balcony. Her parents had just gone to bed, and she was sitting at her desk, working on homework. When he knocked softly, she looked up at the skylight, smiling. Instead of inviting him in, she hurried up to join him. Closing the skylight behind her, she whispered that they can go in soon, she just wanted to make sure her parents are fully asleep first. Not that they wouldn't allow him to be there, just that they would wonder _how_ and that would lead to questions they couldn't answer.

Chat drops his transformation, and the pair sit companionably doing homework for a little while. Marinette starts playing with her pencil more than writing with it, as her nerves overtake her. She had been wanting to ask Adrien something for a while, but can't think of a good way to start However the choice is taken from her, when her partner reaches his hand out to cover hers, and still her fidgeting. "What's wrong, Buginette?"

Marinette smiles at him, but doesn't meet his eyes. A flash of concern pierces Adrien and he turns fully towards her. "Talk to me. What's wrong?"

Taking a shaky breath, and realizing it would be silly to hold out, she turned her body to face Adrien and, turning her hand over so she was holding his hand, gave it a squeeze. "I've been thinking about what you said all weekend, and there's something I need to ask you. If all that love means is what you can get from somebody, what is it you want from me?"

He looked at her, confusion written all over his face.

"You've been telling Ladybug that you love her from practically the first day we met. What is it that you want from me?" Adrien looked stunned, and Marinette studiously avoided looking in his eyes.

Silence filled the balcony. Even the sounds of Paris at night seemed muted as the two teens sat, lost in their own thoughts, pointedly looking anywhere but at each other. Finally, Adrien broke the stillness, his voice barely above a whisper. "Nothing. Well, nothing like that. What I want from you, I want to earn it, or for it to be given. I don't wish to take anything or use you. I want your approval, your attention. Your love. But I never sought to take anything, or to use you. I've never really had expectations for the people I've loved. I mean, yes, I expected my parents to take care of me, provide my basic necessities, but beyond that, I've never really loved anyone with caveats."

Marinette's head hung further, and her voice was barely audible and thick with emotion. "But you assumed I would. You assumed that if I loved you back, it would be to use you? I depend on you, yes. We're partners. We have each other's backs. That's the whole point of a partnership!" Her voice cracked on the last sentence, and she finally raised her head to meet his eyes.

He looked infinitely sad, and more than a little guilty. His shocked expression showed her that he hadn't thought about it from that point of view before. She smiled wanly and reached over to ruffle his hair "It's alright, Adrien. I'm not angry. I'm not even really hurt. I know that all you have to go on is based on what you have experienced. I just want you to think about it. That's all I'm asking."

Giving Adrien a hug, she gathered up her homework and headed back down to her bedroom. A quarter of an hour later, she saw the green flash, and heard her partner launch himself off the railing, but the sound seemed to hold less enthusiasm than usual. She hoped that she hadn't hurt him too badly with her words, that had not been her intention. All she had wanted was to plant the seed of an idea that if he could love unconditionally, couldn't it be possible that she loved him that way, too?


	10. Chapter 10

_Thank you so much for following me on this ride. This started out to be a quick three part story, but then Adrien kindof took it off the rails by not believing that Marinette loved him. I was not expecting that! I appreciate you guys sticking with me, and I have a few more stories in the works... so stay tuned!_

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Adrien paced his room unable to sleep, Marinette's words echoing around his head. _If all that love means is what you can get from somebody, what is it you want from me? You assumed that if I loved you back, it would be to use you?_ It hurt him that she had thought that for even a moment, yet he HAD implied those things. If he was honest with himself, he grudgingly admitted, then he had flat out said those things to her. He didn't think that way about her. He wasn't sure that Marinette was capable of using anyone, especially with all the time he'd spent around her and her family in this past week. Adrien smiled to himself, recalling the good times he'd had not only with Marinette, but with her family, who completely accepted him as one of their own, opening up their home to him whenever he showed up.

After a fitful night's sleep, Adrien arrived at school the next day looking, to most people, his normal, put together self, however Marinette saw right through him, and tugged him aside as soon as she saw him. Glancing around to make sure they wouldn't be overheard, she asked, "Are you alright, Kitty? You look like you didn't sleep much, and you look worried. Is this because of what I said? I didn't mean to hurt you."

Shaking his head, Adrien smiled at her. " I know that you weren't trying to hurt me, but you did give me something to think about. Can we talk about it later? Maybe with food? Can we have lunch at your house?"

Grinning back at him, Marinette ruffled his hair. "Of course, Kitty. You know you are welcome anytime!" She scratched his head, right where his extra ears would be if he were transformed, and Adrien leaned into her hand, causing her to giggle softly. The warning bell rang, urging students to hurry to class, and the pair separated so that they could heed the bell. Looking over at the boy next to her, Marinette panicked to see that, due to her ministrations, his hair was sticking up wildly, giving him a very strong resemblance to his alter ego. Reaching up, she quickly flattened it back down to the best of her ability, and the two of them ran for the classroom.

However, they didn't stay in their class long, for halfway through their first lesson, the telltale screams and crashing of an akuma could be heard, drifting in, along with the breeze through the open window. Everyone groaned, and half the class rushed to the window to look out, easily allowing Adrien and Marinette to slip out, running into the locker room. They started to separate out of habit, but realized they didn't have to, ducking behind the same bank of lockers and transforming. After the light flashes died away the pair paused to smile at each other, seeing the other transform would never get old.

A crash broke the pair out of their reverie, reminding them why they had transformed in the first place. Diving through the open window, the pair scampered across the rooftops towards the site of the commotion they heard a familiar voice, and Chat Noir heaved a sigh, preparing to spend the fight sneezing. However as they approached, Chat's sinuses stayed clear, and there was a distinct lack of feathers on the wind. Instead of the ecstatic cooing and trilling that they normally heard from M. Ramier, they heard excited squeals and squeaks. The smooth grey and pink costume he normally wore was replaced by a soft brown velvet costume with small pointed ears on the top of the hood, and a long, whiplike tail swishing behind him.

Ladybug and Chat Noir exchanged a glance. "I think he took you up on your advice to find a new animal to champion." Ladybug sighed. "Unfortunately I don't think he chose any more wisely this time."

Grinning at his partner, Chat summed up the situation, "Oh _rats!_"

Facepalming, Ladybug groaned and called on her Lucky Charm. The fight with Monsieur Rat was barely longer than their fights with M. Ramier usually lasted, only drawn out because he had a few new moves. After the fight, the two teens talked with the hapless animal lover, and, as usual, he invited them out for ice cream. They declined in favor of getting back to class before they were missed.

Arriving back at the school, they slipped back into the stream of students heading towards the upstairs classrooms, falling into their seats just in time for the class period to end. Gathering their books, they moved to their next class, and through an uneventful rest of their morning, winding up with their lunch spread out on a blanket on Marinette's balcony.

Their chatter remained light, both parties ignoring the topic that they had gone there to discuss, both waiting until after they were done eating to touch on heavier subjects. By mutual avoidance, they drew out their last bites as long as they could, but eventually, all the food was gone. Marinette reached over, putting a hand on Adrien's knee. "We don't have to talk about this now, if you aren't ready. I promise you, I am here for you, always."

Shaking his head, Adrien smiled at her. "No, I want to talk about this. Marinette, I love you. I love you for who you are, not what I can get from you." Reaching out, he grasped her hand, squeezing her fingers slightly. "I hope you believe that. This past week, spending time with you and your family, I have come to realize that you were right about what love truly means. I don't think I've had a good example of that in my life until I met you." Her fingers tightened around his in acknowledgement and support. "I am sorry that I reacted badly when we first talked about this, but, you invited me to the movies as a date. I am really hoping that offer still stands, because I would love to go out with you."

His free hand nervously snaked up to rub at the back of his head. Marinette pulled back a little so that she could meet his eyes. "Of course, Adrien. I love you. I have for a long time now, both as Adrien and Chat Noir. I love you for who you are, and I am not looking to get anything from you, either."

They were smiling into each other's eyes when they heard Tom calling up from down below. "Kids! You're going to be late back to school!"

Jumping up, they grabbed their stuff and raced down the stairs, and out the front door. Somewhere in the mad dash to the school, their hands found each other, and so they raced up the front steps, fingers intertwined. They skidded to a halt in the hallway in front of the locker room with a few minutes to spare, so they slipped in, reluctantly dropping the other's hand in order to neaten their appearance, and grab the correct set of books for class.

Marinette dropped a piece of cheese and a cookie into her purse, and both kwamis took up residence as their two wielders walked to class, close, but carefully not touching, wanting to savour their new relationship for at least a few minutes before they let the world in on their secret.

After school, the pair left school together, heading to the bakery. As they passed Adrien's bodyguard, the teen called out that they were working on a project and wouldn't need a ride. The bodyguard, in return, shot him a disbelieving look, but shadowed the pair to the bakery, amiably enough, before heading back to the car and to the mansion.

Once inside, Marinette asked Adrien if he would like to bake with her. His face lit up in pure joy at the idea, and she tousled his hair fondly, as they headed to the kitchen to make some shortbread cookies. Marinette joked that with only 4 ingredients, even Adrien couldn't screw it up. He made a face at her, and she told him of all the things they could add to jazz them up, but he settled on plain shortbread drizzled in Belgian chocolate.

Marinette pulled out the butter, flour, sugar and vanilla, as well as a large bowl. One of the benefits of living above a bakery was always having ingredients to hand. She tied on an apron, and handed Adrien one of her father's, which engulfed his slight frame, making her giggle. As they combined the ingredients, Marinette measuring and Adriend mixing, they talked about what movies they wanted to go and see deciding, with a laugh, to go and watch the latest superhero movie. After placing the last of the cookie sheets in the oven, they had some time to kill before they started melting the chocolate for the drizzle.

Adrien sat on a stool, and with a tug on her hands, pulled Marinette close, so she stood between his knees, their eyes on a level. A smirk flashed across his face and he leaned forward, his hand stroking up her arm, until it reached the back of her neck and he swiftly released her to give her pigtail a gentle tug. With that, he hopped off the back of the stool to dash away, laughing. After a moment of surprise, Marinette gave chase, cornering him and tackling Adrien to the ground, just as the oven timer went off.

Gathering all the dignity she could muster, Marinette stood, dusting herself off and walked back over to the oven to slide out the trays of shortbread. Looking over, she saw Adrien sitting up, leaning against the wall, watching her, a small smile playing on his lips. Flashing a grin at him, Marinette held up the package of Neuhaus chocolate, heading towards the stove and the double boiler. Bounding up, Adrien trotted after her summoned by the siren call of melted chocolate.

They melted the chocolate in silence, the only sound when Marinette slapped Adrien's hand away from the melting chocolate as he reached in to taste. A yelp of pain rang out, followed by a laugh, when she finally gave up, and let Adrien stick his finger in the chocolate. He still popped his finger in his mouth, sucking both to cool it off and to taste the chocolate that coated it.

They took turns drizzling the chocolate over the now-cool shortbread, Marinette's looking evenly spread, while Adrien's creations were covered in drops and globs. Both, however, were delicious, Adrien admitted, as he taste tested some of each, grinning at his partner, and running his finger through the now-cooling chocolate in the pan.

Smiling at her partner, Marinette took the pan and cookie sheets over to the sink to wash them, as they talked about what movie they should go and see. Neither of them was dying to see any of the movies that were currently showing, so they opted for dinner at the Dupain-Cheng household, and then a movie in Marinette's room after that.

Her parents were thrilled that Adrien was staying for dinner, and Adrien cleared it with a very grudging Nathalie, but at his insistence that they really needed to work on their group project that night, she relented, allowing him to stay.

"Adrien!" Marinette feigned shock. "Did you just lie to your father?"

Blushing slightly, Adrien shook his head. "Of course not! First of all, that was Nathalie. And secondly, we do have a group project. We're going to build that blanket fort you promised me."

Marinette smacked him with a pillow, but then dropped it to start her pile of supplies for the fort. Together they built a blanket fort using her desk chairs and chaise. Saving fleece blanket that she made to snuggle under while watching the movie, the pair made a nice nest for themselves. Adrien switched his phone to silent, joking that it was just like a movie theatre, and then exclaimed excitedly over the blanket that Marinette had put aside. A lime green blanket with black edging and a black paw print on one side, and when he turned it over, it was red with large black spots.

"You made a blanket of us!" He cried, hugging it to his chest.

"We are two sides of the whole, Kitty." She replied, smiling up at him, then patting the pile of pillows next to her, impatient to start the movie. Adrien dropped onto the pillows beside her, and as Marinette hit play, he snuggled into her side, reveling in the contact. Her face burned bright red momentarily as he rested his head on her leg, but smiled and reached up to stroke his hair. Adrien let out a satisfied sigh, and Marinette knew that if he had been transformed, he would have been purring.

Both teens pretended to pay attention to the movie, while their focus was really on the other. They were snuggled together, little touches making them smile to themselves, hearts full with words that they had yet to say. Marinette was resting her head on Adrien's shoulder, his arm wrapped around her. She sighed contentedly, and Adrien couldn't resist dropping a kiss on the top of her head. He thought that it was light enough that she wouldn't notice, but she shot up at the contact, almost headbutting him in the mouth.

Their eyes met, and time stopped for a minute or two as they stared at each other. Later, Plagg would deny whispering 'just kiss her' to Adrien, but whether he did or not, the teens swayed towards each other, their lips meeting in a gentle caress. While the kiss didn't last more than a few seconds, both teens were breathing hard, smiling at each other.

They leaned back into each other, kissing again, this time their whole bodies were involved. Their lips were pressed together, but Marinette's hands were wrapped around his neck, her fingers playing with the ends of Adrien's hair. His arms circled her waist, one hand on her hip pulling her closer, hugging her to him. This time when they broke apart, they didn't move far from each other, foreheads resting against each other, lovestruck smiles on their faces.

Marinette reached up, her hand cupping his cheek, until Adrien looked up into her eyes. "I love you, Adrien. Always. You mean the world to me, and I couldn't have asked for a better partner. Kitty, I'm yours, always."

Adrien's smile grew even bigger, nuzzling the hand on his cheek. "I love you too, Marinette. Not only are you _the_ Ladybug, you are also our Everyday Ladybug. You are my world. I'm sorry that I took a while to come around, but I understand now. I want to be your partner, both as Adrien as well as Chat. I want to spend as much time as I can with you and your family. I want you to teach me what love really is. There is nowhere in the universe I'd rather be than by your side. I love you."

"I love you, too, Kitty. Adrien, there is nowhere I'd rather be than by your side. Whatever happens, wherever we go in life, my heart is yours. Now and forever, my heart will remember you."


End file.
